MANILA – Grandmaster Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr. has promised to give his best in the three-day Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Tournament of Champions Grand Finals set to unfold at the South Wing Atrium of Greenhills Mall in San Juan City on Friday.
Antonio, named best player in the PCAP Season 3 All-Filipino Conference, will be up against International Masters Joel Banawa and Chito Garma, and the winners of the nine-leg Champions League.
Garma is stepping in for Manila Indios Bravos teammate Woman FIDE Master Cherry Ann Mejia, who decided to skip the tournament.
The Champions League winners are FIDE Master (FM) Ellan Asuela (Leg 1, Ozamis Chess 7-in-1 Team Festival); Kevin Arquero (Leg 2, HUbstar Open Invitational); Omar Bagalacsa (Leg 3, Pasig Battle of the Masters); John Philip Gabuco (Leg 4, Puerto Princesa Open Chess Challenge); International Master Daniel Quizon (Leg 5, Chairman's Cup); FM Austin Jacob Literatus (Leg 6, Davao); Virgen Gil Ruaya (Leg 7, Camarines Sur); IM Kim Steven Yap (Leg 8, Cebu); and Mark Kevin Labog (Leg 9, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan).
"Well, I am the only GM in the field. I guess the pressure is on me but I will just try my very best and we'll see what will happen," the 62-year-old Antonio said on Thursday.
The 13-time Philippine Open champion described the grand finals as "one the best tournaments I have ever joined in 40 years of playing in the Philippines, if not the best."
"The promotion is very nice and of course, you can see the good intention of the PCAP leadership to help chess players and make the sport known nationwide. Kudos to them, especially Chairman Michael Ong Chua and Commissioner Atty. Paul Elauria," he said.
Antonio is set to compete in the FIDE World Senior Chess Championships in Porto Santo Island, Portugal from Nov. 19 to 26.
The Tournament of Champions Grand Finals, sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), offers PHP80,000 in cash to the winner. The second and third placers will get PHP30,000 and PHP20,000, respectively, while the fourth to 12th placers will receive PHP5,000 each.
Chua said the Tournament of Champions Grand Finals will have a round-robin format. Each round will be composed of Blitz (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment) and Rapid (13 minutes plus 2 seconds increment). Blitz will be scored 1 for win, 0.5 for draw, and 0 for loss. Rapid will be scored 2 for win, 1.0 for draw, and 0 for loss.
“Highest Total Game Points will win the round and get 1 point as a score. If the score is tied, then 0.5 will be awarded to each player," added Chua, who will attend the 8:30 a.m. opening ceremony along with Elauria, PCAP treasurer Arnel Batungbakal, technical committee head Jojo Buenaventura, coach Hubert Estrella, and sportsman Jessie Villasin. (PNA)
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